Boat unloader



Aug; 21, 1928.

D. s. MUNN BOAT UNLOADER 3-:Sheets-Sheet v1 Filed May 20,- 1925 gave/"KW Snow, 5

Aug. 21, 1928.

D. s. MUNN BOAT unnowsa Filed May 20, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 -Aug. 21, 1928.

' D. S. MUNN BOAT UNLOADER Filed May 20, 1925 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Qwuenfoz Patented Aug. 21, 1928.

' UNITED i STATES 1,681,742 PATENT, OFFICE.

DONALD S. MUNN, OF SOUTH EUCLID, OHIO, ASSIGNOR-TO THE MCMYLER INTERSTATE COMPANY, OF BEDFORD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BOAT UNLOADER Application filed May 20, 1925. Serial No. 31,488.

This invention relates to a boat unloader and has for its object to provide'an unloader adapted to be mounted upon the vessel being unloaded and to deliver the material onto a pile extending along the dock beside which the vessel is secured while being unloaded.

The unloader herein shown is particularly designed for unloading coal, ore, or other material that can be handled by means of a clam-shell bucket from the hold of a vessel and delivering the same in a pile along the dock besidewhich the vessel is placed, and consists of a carriage running upon tracks extending along opposite sides of the deck of the vessel and spanning the hatch, elevating mechanismon the carriage, and a piling-conveyor to which the elevating mechanismdelivers the material from the hold of .2 the vessel, said conveyor comprising a vertically swinging conveyer carrying boom pivoted to the turntable and adjustable about its pivot to maintain the delivery end thereof at the properheight abovethe pile, the elevating mechanism and piling conveyer being both mounted upon aturntable on the carriage to permit sluing of the conveyor boom to position the discharge end thereof at the desired distance from the edge of the dock.

l/Vith the above and other objects in view, the invention may be said to comprise the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings hereinafter described and particu 'larly set forth in the appended claims, together with such variations and modifications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains.

Reference should be had to the, accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which Fig. 1 is a S1Cl6 elevation of the unloader showing in transverse section a portion of the vessel upon which the unloader is mounted; Fig; 2 is a side elevation showing thesuperstructure carried by the turntable looking from the dock side, the hoisting mechanism and piler boom being omitted; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section showing the floor. of the turntable and the mechanism mounted thereon; Fig. t is a plan view showing a portion of the dock and the vessel alongside of the dock with the 'unloader mounted thereon. i

hold.

sel is secured,1s designed to receive a stor- Referring to theaccompanying drawings,

the vessel upon which the unloader is mounted, is indicated by the numeral 1, and this vessel is provided with a hold 2 and deck 8 provided with the hatch 4 which may extend the full length of the hold. The openings in the deck 3' through which the. material is loaded and unloadedmay consist of a row of spaced hatches or a single hatch extending the full length of the The dock 5 alongside which the vesage pile of the desired width and length, the material being delivered by the unloade er directlyfrom the hold of the vessel onto the storage pile on the dock. EX- tending along opposite sides of the deck of the vessel are track rails 6, upon which the carriage 7, which supports the unloader mechanism,travels. 1 The carnage 7 consists of a rectangular frame Swhich is supported 7 at each corner upon equalizing trucks 9' which carry flanged wheels which run upon the track 6. Any suitable means maybe provided for traveling the carriage along the deck of the vessel. As shownherein the front and rear wheels of the carriage may be propelled in either direction by suitable electric motors mounted upon the frame 8. A turntable 11 is rotatably mounted upon the frame 8 of the carriage and is supported upon suitable rollers 12, provided in the circular raceway in which the turntable is mounted. The frame 8 of the carriage has an open central portion and the turntable 11 has platforms 13 and 14k along opposite sides, between which there is an opening 15 which is over the open central portion of the frame 8 and extends across the hatch 4 so that an unobstructed space is provided for the passage of the hoisting members to and from the hold of the vessel. A sluing rack 16 is securedto the carriage frame 8 concentric with the axis of rotationv of the turntable, and provides means whereby the turntable may be adjusted toany desired angular position. Suitably controlled sluing motors The turntable 11 carries a superstructure consisting of pairs of posts 21 secured to the turntable adjacent opposite sides thereof 7 direction along the beams 23. On the side a connecting truss 22 connecting each pair of side posts and connecting beams24 which extend between the bottom portions of the two connecting trusses 22. The connecting beams 23 serve to support spaced rails 24 which extend along the tops of the beams 23. The turntable 11 extends at one side beyond the superstructure and upon the projecting portion of the turntable there is mounted an operators house 25' within which the hoistoperating mechanism is mounted. A second one of the platforms within the superstructure. upon the rails 24 and suspended from this trolley is the grab-bucket 28, preferably a clam-shell bucket which is adapted to be lowered into the hold of the vessel to remove the material therefrom. The bucket 28 is suspended from the trolley 27 by means of a hoist cable and the bucket is raised and lowered, and opened and closed by means of hoist and hold drums upon which the cables are wound, the hoist and holddrums being 33 extend from the drum 34 over a guide sheave 36 carried by one of the posts' 21 and one run extendsover a guide sheave 37 at one end of the beam 23 and the other run extends over a sheave 36 mounted on the post 21 directly above the sheave 36 and over guide sheave 38 at the oppositeend of the beams 23, and is connected to the opposite end of the trolley'27. By rotating the drum 34 in the proper direction, the trolley 27 may be shifted in the desired of the turntable opposite the operators house 25 there is a radially extending trussed boom 39 whiohis supported at its inner end on a bracket 40 carried by the turntable by means of a horizontal pivot pin 41. The

boom 39 carries an endless belt conveyer 42 which runs over rollers 48 and 44 at the inner and outer ends of the-boom, the'conveyer 42 serving to receive the material delivered by the grab-bucket 28 and to deliver the same onto the pileon the-dock. A

suitable hoist cable 45 ,isconnected to the outer end of the boom 39andjextends to a hoist drum 46 mountedupon the platform discharge end of the conveyor 42 may be A trolley 27 is mounted to travel boom 39 and this hopper is provided w1th" a suitable mechanical feed mechanism which I feeds the material at the desired rate from the ,hoppe1j48 to the conveyer-belt 42. As herein shown, the hopper 48 is provided with a feed-belt- 49. which extends across 7 the bottom of the hopper and discharges operator s house 26 may be provided upon onto the belt 42. The feed andconveyer mechanism on the boom is a power-driven unitseparate from the mechanism on the turntable and any suitable drive mechanism may be provided on the boom. 'The boom from the superstructure over the hopper 48,

so that a loaded bucket maybe shift-ed toia position where it may dump its I material into the hopper 48.. The space between the posts 21 at the side of the turntable on which the boom 39 is mounted isunobstructed, so that the bucket 28 maypass from the in- 'terior' of the superstructure to a positiondirectly over the hopper 48.

' In the operation of the unloaderhthe,

bucket 28 will be lowered into thehold of the vessel by rotating the hoist drum 29in a direction to lower the bucket. When lowered into the mass of material within the hold, the Winding up of the hoist-cable will cause the jaws of the bucket'to close, and

cthe loaded bucket will be elevated to a position within the, superstructure innnediately. below the beams 23. The shifting drum 34 will then be operated to shift the trolley 27 outwardly to a position directly over the hopper 48, and the bucket will be dumped/by operating the hold and hoist drums, The material within the hopper'48 is fed-at a uniform rate to the conveyor-belt 42 by the feed belt 49, and is'discharged from the outer end of the boom upon the storage pile on the dock. The outer end of the boom/39 is preferably maintained a short distance above thepile to which the material is being discharged, and as the height of the pileincreases the hoist-drum 46 maybe operated to elevate the discharge end of the boom. By sluing the turntable the boom 3 9maybedisposed at any desired 7 angle with respect tothe edge of the dock so that the dischargeend of the boom may the edge of the dock. i

Having described my inve'ntion, .I claim:

be positioned at the desired distance from v 1.- The combination with a vessel, of a carriage mounted on the deck of said ves- 13 of the turntable, the hoist-drum 46 being i driven by a suitably controlled electric motor 47. By means of the hoist cable 45, the

sel, said carriage spanning the hatch of the vessel and being movable longitudinally of the vessel, ,a --turntable mountedon said oar-' riage and having'an opening adapted to be positioned over the hatch, said, carriage and turntable having open central portions, an outwardly extending boom secured at its inner end to the turntable, a conveyor on the boom, a feed hopper supported above the inner end of the conveyor, a superstructure carried by the turntable, a track carried by the superstructure over the open central portion of the turntable and carriage and projecting over said hopper, a trolley on said track, means for shifting the trolley on the track from a position over the open central portion of the turntable to a position over said hopper, a hoisting mem ber suspended from the trolley, means for raising and lowering said member through the opening in the turntable and for discharging the same into the hopper, and means for adjusting said boom and turntable.

'2. The combination with a vessel, of a carriage mounted on the deck of the vessel for movement longitudinally thereof, said carriage spanning the hatch of the vessel, a turntable mounted on said carriage and having an opening adapted to be positioned over the hatch, said carriage and turntable having open central portions over the hatch, a superstructure on the turntable, a transverse track mounted on the superstructure over the open central portions of the carriage and turntable, said track projecting beyond one side of the superstructure, a trolley movable on the boom from a position over the open central portion of the turnable to a position outside said superstructure, a vertically swinging boom pivoted to the turntable beneath the projecting end of the track, an endless conveyor on the boom, a feed hopper between the track and boom, a grab bucket suspended from the trolley, means for raising and lowering the grab bucket through the turntable and for opening and closing the same, and mechanism mounted on the turntable for shifting the trolley on the track, from a position over the open central portion of the turntable to a position over said feed hopper for shifting the turntable about its axis and for raising and lowering the outer end of the boom.

In testimony whereof, Ihereunto afiix my signature.

DONALD s. MUNN. 

